Scottish MINI Cooper Cup star Joe Tanner will switch to the MINI CHALLENGE JCW Championship this year as part of a new team Lux Motorsport.

We welcome Joe Tanner into the JCW F56 John Cooper Works Championship and new team called Lux Motorsports.

Joe is the owner of Rennat Design and the work undertaken is just draw dropping. he has done helemts for Gordan Shedden since 2010 and Dan Lloyd and many others.

We are working with Joe this year for the remaining rounds left and looking forward to getting some of his work on the helmets he will have on in each racing weekend, 2019 we have been signed up to cover him for the full season.

We caught up with Joe at Oulton Park For Round 5 and here is what he said:

I’m delighted to be back racing again in the JCW mini challenge, for me its the best championship around at the moment. It’s been a tough few months trying to put everything together to get back on track but I have some amazing people around me and I can’t thank them enough for all of there help.

LUX motorsport is a brand new team based up here in Scotland, and with myself and Jack Davidson driving the two cars it’s a full Scottish operation.

Oulton was the first time we had a chance to run the new car and we had a lot of problems. But despite that it’s impossible not to enjoy it as the cars are just so much fun to drive. I was also really pleased that both races ran the full distances without interruption and we gained some valuable track time in the car.

I’m really looking forward to the rest of the season, I have never been to Brands GP before but we will be supporting the DTM and I m sure it will be an amazing event.

Tanner was runner-up in the Knockhill-based Scottish series each year from 2013-2015, but then stepped back from racing to build his helmet painting business.

The 34-year-old, who is also an ex-Scottish Formula Ford champion, will now return to full-time racing with JamSport, which moves into the MINI CHALLENGE this year having switched from the Renault Clio Cup.

This is going to be a huge year for me, having been out of racing properly for a few years, but I can’t wait to get started,” said Tanner, from Edinburgh.

“I’ve never driven a JCW, but I know it will be a big step up in power, grip and performance over the Scottish Cooper Cup cars, which are pretty standard. The JCW is pretty closely related to a touring car, so it’s a much more technical beast to set up and drive properly. It’s also back to slicks for me for the first time since my Formula Ford days, and getting heat into those was quite easy as it was rear-wheel drive, so this will be a new challenge.

“The MINI CHALLENGE worked out to be the best move for me in terms of development and learning better race craft,” Davidson told Motorsport News.

“This year will likely be a learning year for me, getting to grips with the car. I won’t be doing anything stupid.”

Davidson, who will turn 16 in March, will drive the car formerly handled by Jo Polley.

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